Richard Brodsky: New York state could sure use a two-party system

It isn't going to matter much, but the two emerging Republican candidates for governor are good, strong public officials, which is not what the GOP has usually offered us.

Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro has brains, a kind of aw-shucks charm, and an ability to work with folks he disagrees with. State Sen. John DeFrancisco of Syracuse is similarly smart, and if not as charming as Molinaro, has worked hard and successfully on economic issues, and knows the ins and outs of the Capitol as well as anyone. Both can offer their party and voters personal and policy alternatives, which is what elections are supposed to be about.

But it won't matter.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's political strengths are simply too many and too deep to be overcome. He has a record full of accomplishments and the mechanics and resources to blow the opposition out of the water. He has flaws and weaknesses as well, and under normal circumstances they could be exploited.

But these are hardly normal times. The state Republican Party is now a vestige of what had dominated New York for over a century. By bad choices and bad luck it is now largely irrelevant to both government and politics.

The bad choices were the dramatic shift to the hard right over the last 20 years. The party of Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and U.S. Sen. Jacob Javits and even Gov. George Pataki could win elections. The party of Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and businessman Carl Paladino and the tea party is out of touch with the needs and values of most New Yorkers.

The bad luck is President Donald Trump. By demeanor and policy, and by his anti-New York attacks, he's poisoned the well for other Republicans.

Put the two together and there is no realistic possibility of either man beating Cuomo.

Cynics among us look to the impact of corruption trials and Cuomo's uncanny ability to look mean even when he brings good news. These are unrealistic hopes. Cuomo's record is progressive and accomplishment-rich enough that he would probably win over a non-Trump, non-tea party Republican. We'll never know. So let's hear it for two good, old-fashioned public servants as they embark on a noble, if hopeless, crusade.